Awards Gala

The sixth annual U-T San Diego & San Diego Hall of Champions Prep Athletes Awards Gala will be 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the Hall of Champions in Balboa Park. The event recognizes the year’s top athletes and the All-Academic Team. Information at sdhoc.com or (619) 699-2388.

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Clearly, the ticket to being selected U-T San Diego high school Athlete of the Year is tied very closely to capturing a state championship. At least this year.

La Costa Canyon’s Darren Fahy won three of them — one in cross country and two in track and field — to run away with the top honor for boys.

La Jolla Country Day’s Maya Hood is the girls choice after leading the Torreys to a rare state basketball crown and helping the volleyball team reach the state finals for the third straight year.

“To me, the highlight of the year was winning the state 1,600 meters because it was considered my ‘off’ event,” said Fahy, who will continue his career at Georgetown University in the fall.

Fahy captured the metric mile in 4 minutes, 8.78 seconds last weekend in Clovis, using a torrid kick. The mark was just off his season best of 4:08.15 at the Sundevil Invitational midway through the year. He was able to come back in what many consider his No. 1 event, the 3,200, winning that state final with another fast finish in 9:03.29 — well back of the 8:54.21 he clocked at the Arcadia Invitational.

Still, the 4:08.15 is No. 7 all-time in the section and the 8:54.21 is No. 9.

Yet the event in which Fahy is hoping to make the biggest splash is the steeplechase. He ran 9:03.15 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the UCSD Invitational, which is among the all-time best for a high school athlete.

“I’m going to take a week off and then go to the Junior Nationals (in Indiana) where I hope to finish in the top two and earn a trip to Barcelona,” said Fahy, who a year ago thought he was going to the World Youth Track and Field Championships in France only to discover he was left off the team.

Hood helped lead La Jolla Country Day to the Division IV basketball title and a No. 2 ranking in the state behind Santa Ana Mater Dei, a team the Torreys never faced. During the season, LJCD lost just one game against 32 wins — to a Long Beach Poly team the Torreys had decimated by 12 points earlier in the season.

“That loss was the best thing that happened to us,” said the 5-foot-10 Hood, who, along with twin sister Malina, will be expected to make an immediate impact at the University of San Diego. “It came at a time (December) when it didn’t really hurt us, but we learned what a bad feeling that was and didn’t want to have again.”

Hood averaged 17.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.6 steals a game for the Torreys, who buried Richmond Salesian 72-41 in the title game.

Hood also contributed to La Jolla Country Day’s state runner-up finish in volleyball, ending the Torreys’ two-year run as state champs.

“I like volleyball,” Hood said, “but I’m focusing on basketball from now on.”